The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry has called for an immediate consultation over the imposition of additional regulatory duty on 250 items to ensure business-friendly decisions. LCCI President Malik Tahir Javed on Friday quoting news said that around 250 items have been identified on which the additional regulatory duty will be imposed including used cars, tyres, mobile phones, electronic goods, readymade garments and ceramic tiles.
The Lahore Chamber understands that unnecessary imports are widening trade deficit but it believes that extensive consultation between public and private sector is a must to bring clarity to the issue of regulatory duty.
The import of unnecessary and lavish items must be discouraged to get rid of the historic trade deficit that has widened to 6.29 billion during first two month of current fiscal year as compared with the deficit of $4.711 billion in the corresponding months of the last year.
But at the same time, it must be ensured that imports of necessary raw materials are not affected. Only way to avoid any burden on the imports of necessary raw material and machinery etc is the consultation between the government and the private sector, he said, and added that one-sided decision would be failed to give desired results.
The LCCI President said that though aspiration of controlling the huge trade deficit is a good sign but it would be better to draw a sketch for boosting the exports that are not up to the mark because of various reasons. The government should contribute to the national economy through trade facilitation and liberalization, improve export competitiveness and reduce the cost of doing business, he added.
He said that ministry of commerce should provide direction and diversification to internal trade for enhancing supply chains to country's exports. The new trade avenues and markets should be explored in different regions to secure market access for Pakistani products, he said.
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